Flowers
by Kohaku Kawa
Summary: AU. IN the same setting as TLC but an alternate timeline, but it would also fit as a modern day AU. Thorne is living in Rieux and meets Scarlet. It's the start of a slow burn romance. [Scorne]
1. Like the Roses

**I was supposed to be writing a different Scorne fic for Andromeda Writes but that is going to be a continuation of this one.**

 **This fic is in response to a prompt on tumblr about character A stealing character B's flowers (and the rest of this chapter's plot is from that prompt too). I hope that you like it.**

 **By the way, I headcanon Scarlet as Black. I only mention it so nobody thinks they need to correct me.**

When he heard the gunshot Thorne was bent haphazardly over the white picket fence reaching for another rose. His hair moved as the bullet zinged by his ear and in his panic Thorne toppled the rest of the way over the fence into the garden.

"You scoundrel!" A woman's voice shouted at him across the yard, heavy with a french accent. "I know you're the one who's been stealing my flowers!"

Thorne tried to untangle himself to stand but kneeled on one of the branches of the rose bush and yelped. "You tried to shoot me over flowers?" He yelled.

A shadow fell over him and he looked up to see a large, curvy woman with flaming red hair cascading in curls around her face and deep, chestnut brown skin. She wore an old red hoodie and held a small pistol casually in one hand. Thorne guessed her to be in her late thirties -about the same age as he was.

"No." She said. "If I had been aiming for you, you'd be dead. I just don't want you taking my flowers anymore."

Her amber brown eyes gleamed with mischief and Thorne didn't think they looked like the eyes of a killer. Still he put up his hands in surrender.

"Okay," He said. "I'm sorry, it's won't happen again."

The woman crossed her arms and smirked. "You'd better not. Those are prize winning flowers I'll have you know."

"Got it." Thorne stood up slowly. "Life of crime officially over."

He started to turn toward the gate, but the woman held up her hand and said, "Wait." She sighed looking at the flowers he had left strewn on the grass. "No reason for these to go to waste." She gathered the roses into a small bouquet, frowned, and picked several black eyed susans to add to it.

"There." She said and handed the bouquet to the flustered Thorne. "But I insist on coming with you. I need to make sure that whatever girl you're giving them to is pretty enough for my flowers." She smirked again.

"Oh no, that's okay. I couldn't." Thorne said and tried to hand the flowers back to her.

"No, I insist." The woman folded her arms again. "I'll consider it payment."

Thorne opened his mouth to protest again, but she was already walking to the gate.

"Let's go!" She said. "I don't want you to be late for your pretty date!"

"I guess I do owe you." Thorne ran a hand through his light brown hair and followed her out of the garden. He started walking down the road and the woman fell into step next to him.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Scarlet." She said.

"Like the-" He was going to say hair, but a glare from her stopped him short and he quickly amended to "the roses!"

She gave him a suspicious look. "Sure. Like the roses." She said. "What's your name?"

"Carswell," He replied, "but most people call me Thorne."

Scarlet laughed. "Like the roses?" She asked.

Thorne chuckled and nodded. "I guess so." He said.

They passed the turn to go into town and Scarlet looked at him curiously but didn't say anything. They continued walking in relative silence until Thorne made the turn for the graveyard.

"Oh!" Scarlet exclaimed. "I'm sorry! I didn't think-"

"It's okay. Really." Thorne said. He smiled warmly at her.

Scarlet had stopped walking. "I should go." She said.

Thorne shrugged. "It's kind of nice to have company for once."

Scarlet hesitated another second, then took a step forward. "Who was she?" She asked quietly as they entered the graveyard.

"My wife, Cress." Thorne replied, also in a hushed tone. He walked over to a grave near a wispy beech tree and laid the flowers in front of the headstone. Scarlet stood a few steps back.

"Hey Cress." Thorne said softly. "Hope you're doing well, love."

"Do you visit her every week?" Scarlet asked once he had stepped back from the grave.

Thorne nodded. "Almost every week since..."

"Three years ago." Scarlet said softly reading the gravestone.

Thorne nodded. Wiping a tear from his cheek.

"My grand-mere is buried right over here." Scarlet said, walking a few yards further. "She owned the farm before me."

Thorne followed her to stand by the slightly older grave. "You were close?" He asked.

Scarlet nodded. "She raised me. She was the only family I had left." She sighed and bent to pick a weed off of the grave. "I should visit her more often." She said.

She stood and patted the dirt off of her hands. "We could come together sometimes and bring them both flowers. If you'd like." She said, turning to look at Thorne.

"Yeah." He said smiling. "That would be nice.


	2. Sure Shot

**Alright this is the prompt that my gf sent me on tumblr: "You're the only one I trust to do this."**

 **I really liked it as a continuation of what I already had in mind for the last chapter. I hope that you all do too.**

Scarlet was not quite asleep yet when she heard her garden gate creek open. When she was sure that she heard steps outside her house she jumped out of bed and burst out the front door, her pistol in hand. She had her gun pointed at the intruder before she recognized that it was Thorne.

"What are you doing here? It's almost midnight!" She asked.

"I need a favor." He said, coming up to the porch. "It's kind of a big one."

Scarlet straightened her long night gown as she considered him. "Well what is it?"

Thorne spoke quickly, tripping over his words. "It's one of my horses, she took a really bad fall today and the vet is in Paris. I phoned her –the vet –and she says that Moon –sorry, the horse –doesn't sound like she'll recover. So I need to…"

Scarlet raised her eyebrows. "Oh Thorne, I'm sorry! But I don't know if I can… are you asking me to put down your horse?"

Thorne's shoulders drooped and he leaned against one of the porch railings. "Scarlet I spent the last hour trying to stop shaking enough to aim properly and I just can't do it. If I cause her more pain than she's already in, it's going to haunt me forever." He said and then added in a whisper. "She was Cress' horse."

"The biggest thing I've ever killed is a chicken." Scarlet said, running a hand through her hair.

"But you're a really sure shot, Scarlet. You're the only one I trust to do this." He said, his eyes fixed on her own.

"Alright," Scarlet agreed a bit hesitantly. "Let me get changed and we'll go."

"Thank you." Thorne said, collapsing to sit on the porch. "Thank you so much."

She returned in a minute and Thorne drove them to his home. She realized it was the first time she had been there.

As they walked around the ranch style house Scarlet asked, "How long ago did she fall?"

"Right around sunset when I was trying to bring her in for the night. I spent a long time arguing with the vet but Moon is pretty old and the vet said she'll just continue to be in pain." Thorne said, his voice hitching a little.

Thorne headed for a steep hill a ways from the barn and continued. "I left my other horse with her, I don't know if I should have, but he seemed okay and I didn't want her to be alone."

Scarlet nodded. As they made their way over the shallower slope of the hill she saw a roan horse standing over a dappled gray mare breathing heavily on her side. Even though they only had flashlights the full moon provided enough light to see the path the horse had fallen down the hill. It was clear from clumps of grass missing.

Thorne knelt next to the mare, stroking her nose. Then he stood and untied the roan horse's lead from a tree. "I'm going to take Rampion back to the barn." He hesitated. "Do you think that's far enough? The gunshot…"

"He'll hear it wherever you put him." Scarlet said, putting a hand on Thorne's shoulder. "I'll stay with her while you're gone."

Thorne nodded and lead Rampion off as Scarlet sat next to Moon's head. Part of her felt like she should stay detached, but she also wanted to ease the creature's fear. She stroked the horse's sweat-drenched face and said "There, there." Scarlet had grown up surrounded by animals. She remembered once, when she was nine, her grand-mere's cow had needed to be put down. Scarlet hadn't wanted to watch though, and her grand-mere hadn't forced her. Though she had chided that Scarlet would need to do it herself one day. All of the other large animals they'd had since then only died from old age or had been sold off. Scarlet wondered if she would need to put down one of her own cows or horses in the future.

Wrapped up in these thoughts, she didn't hear Thorne until he was right next to her. He sat down next to Scarlet and scratched Moon behind her ear.

"She's really not doing well." Scarlet said softly.

Thorne nodded, strokinf Moon's forehead once more. "Say hi to Cress for me." He whispered and stood up.

"Can you get her more upright?" Scarlet asked.

Thorne coaxed Moon into a position where she was facing Scarlet and her head was upright.

"Do you know how to do it? The vet said to shoot her in the forehead and to use a smaller gun." He said.

Scarlet nodded. "Grand-mere drilled it into me." She said. "You need to imagine an X from the ears to the eyes and shoot in the center. It's important to hit it right, otherwise…" Scarlet trailed off. She didn't want to scare Thorne with the stories she had heard.

Thorne bit his lip as he stepped back from Moon. Scarlet saw a glint of tears at the corner of his eyes.

"You don't have to watch." She said.

Thorne heaved a big sigh and shook his head. "I feel like I should."

As Scarlet was lining her gun up, he ended up turning around though.

Scarlet eyed him out of the corner of her eye. "You are ready, yes?"

Thorne nodded, still looking away.

Moon was breathing heavily, watching Scarlet with large eyes. Scarlet set her stance solid and aimed carefully. She thought of all the times she had fired this gun and hit exactly where she wanted. She fired her pistol and the horse collapsed to the grass, her life extinguished. From the barn, Rampion's whiny carried across the humid night air.

Thorne whipped around and let loose a breath of release when he saw it was done. He turned to Scarlet who was wiping her own tears away and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Careful!" She protested. "The safety's still off!"

"Thank you." Thorne said against her thick curls. He didn't let her go for a minute and Scarlet found herself holding him just as tightly.

…

While Thorne started digging a grave Scarlet went into the house and made some coffee for them. It was strange being in there. Thorne obviously didn't use it much, or if he did he kept it very clean. On the back of the kitchen door there was still a white apron with blue embroidered flowers hanging. A tin of tea sat on a shelf even though Scarlet knew he only drank coffee.

She found some thermoses and the coffee and then sat for a moment while it brewed. She tried to imagine his life with Cress in this kitchen. Which side of the table he would have sat on. She decided that he would have left the side facing out the window for Cress.

When she got back to Thorne she held one of the thermoses out for him. "Let me do that for a while." She said.

Thorne nodded with a tired smile and handed her the shovel. Scarlet was impressed with how far he'd gotten already as she dug the shovel into the earth. Luckily the soil yielded easily here. They'd had a good summer for digging.

Thorne sat on the ground next to the electric lantern Scarlet had found and brought out from the kitchen. Looking over at him, Scarlet asked, "What are you doing out here in the country Thorne? You seem like a city guy to me."

Thorne nodded, his eyes focused on the past. "I am. Cress fell in love with this place though. We were travelling together after we got married –all around the world. Cress was tired of the cities by the time we reached Paris and someone told us about this town." Thorne looked up at the stars and smiled. "She kept coming up with excuses to stay longer and longer until finally she told me she had a surprise to show me. She brought me to this house and convinced me that we should live here. Not that I took much convincing, seeing how happy the place made her."

Scarlet grinned. "I loved the farm and living with my grand-mere, but there were a few months when I was fourteen that I dead set on moving out and wandering through Europe one day."

"Did you ever?" Thorne asked.

Scarlet shook her head. "Not really. I went to Italy for a month when I turned seventeen, but you don't do much travelling when you have a farm to take care of."

Thorne made a thoughtful noise. "We never did travel much after we got the horses." He said and grew quiet again.

Scarlet nodded. "You should plant some flowers here later." She said. "I probably have some plants that could use thinning out."

"Thanks, that would be really nice of you." Thorne said. He stood up and held out his hand for the shovel. "You're already doing so much."

Scarlet shrugged. "Well, I hope someone would do the same for me."

He and Scarlet took turns digging. They chatted as they worked and it didn't seem to take very long. By the time Thorne drove Scarlet back to her house though, it was almost three in the morning.

"I'm sorry I kept you out all night." Thorne said.

"I'm glad you came and got me." Scarlet gave his arm a squeeze. "That would have been a lot to go through alone."

Scarlet paused as she opened the car door. "Do you think you'll be able to sleep when you get home?"

"I don't know." Thorne said. "My body is tired enough, but my mind is still racing."

Scarlet twisted her lips in thought and said. "Well I have to be up to do chores in an hour or so anyway and I'm not going to sleep either. Do you want to have some more coffee and then I can teach you how to milk a cow?"

Thorne turned off the car engine and opened his own door. "Alright," He said, "but this doesn't make us even. I still owe you one big favor."

"And don't think I'll forget it!" Scarlet said as they walked towards the house.

Thorne laughed. There was a brightness in it that reminded Scarlet of the birds just beginning to sing in anticipation of the morning sun.

 **The End**

 **I'm happy to leave the story here, but I'm also open to continuing it if I find more prompts that fit in with this AU. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Much Ado over Morning Coffee

**Based off of a prompt "Don't panic, but I think we might have accidentally gotten married…"** **by** **alwaysbellamyblake. Sent to me by Andromedawritess.**

 **If you like it, let me know!**

Scarlet set the coffee brewing and looked around at the new additions to her kitchen. It had been a month since Thorne had moved in. Scarlet had kept most of the old kitchen wares that had been her grand-mere's, but some of them were battered enough to be replaced with Thorne's newer things. Most of Cress' belongings that had been all around Thorne's house were now in a trunk in the other room. At Scarlet's suggestion though, Thorne had put the tin of tea on the kitchen shelf. She hoped it brought him comfort to have a small reminder of Cress.

Thorne came in the door as she was pouring the coffee and traded her a newspaper for a mug. She read through the news as Thorne sorted through their mail. She liked that they already had a kind of routine. They fit into each other's lives well. It seemed at once longer and shorter than the two years that she had known him.

Thorne froze while reading one of the letters. "Don't panic," he said, "but I think we might have accidentally gotten married…"

"What?" Scarlet snapped.

Thorne raised his hands in defense and handed her the letter. "Remember signing all those forms last month? When we made that joint account after my house sold and you wanted to make sure that I could stay here if something happened to you?"

Scarlet read through the copies of the forms, brow furrowed. There it was. A marriage license signed by both of them and the registrar. They had even sent an embossed certificate with the copies, though that one didn't have any signatures.

"Merde." Scarlet frowned and flipped to the announcement section of the newspaper. There, sure enough, was an announcement of her marriage to Carswell Thorne. "Merde." She said again, stronger.

Thorne craned his neck to look at it and then sighed. "I mean…" He started to say.

Scarlet held up a finger. "Thorne. Just- just- don't."

Thorne closed his mouth and stared into his coffee cup.

"I just didn't want to get married again." She said quietly.

Thorne nodded, still looking at his mug.

"She was my… everything." Scarlet sighed. She didn't like to think of Emilie. It hurt too much.

"I know. I get it." Thorne said.

Scarlet knew he did. He was one of the only people she had talked to about Emilie. He was one of the only people she thought might have loved someone as strongly as she had. He had never proposed and she was grateful for that. She probably wouldn't have let him move in if he had. She didn't know if he felt the same way about marrying again or if he just sensed her own feelings, but it didn't matter. He understood.

Scarlet reached over and took his hand. "Drink your coffee. I'm going to call and get this sorted out."

Thorne pursed his lips. "Are you sure it wouldn't be better if I called them?" He asked.

"I'm doing it." Scarlet insisted. She found her phone and went outside.

The conversation was long and went in many circles. Scarlet came close to yelling a good few times, but held it back. She was transferred between three different people (all of the government workers in small town Rieux) several times before she finally gave up and ended the call.

Thorne came out to the porch and sat next to her on the steps. He handed her a fresh cup of coffee.

"Apparently," Scarlet started before he could even ask how it went, "They just assumed we wanted to be married. Apparently, it was so much easier for all of us to do it that way. So much less paperwork."

"Huh." Thorne huffed.

"And apparently, there's nothing they can do now. I guess we should have noticed ourselves, but we never asked for a marriage license! Anyways, the only thing would be to get a divorce." Scarlet finished her rant much softer than she had started it. Her anger was pretty much gone at this point.

Thorne moved nearer and put an arm around her shoulders. "Is that what you want to do?"

Scarlet shrugged. "What do you want?"

"Well, I never planned on remarrying. If I was going to accidentally marry someone though, I sure couldn't think of a better person than you hotshot." Thorne said squeezing her gently.

Scarlet smirked. "Well," She sighed for dramatic effect, "now that it's done I suppose there's not much sense in undoing it. We'll just have to be stuck with each other."

Thorne moved to kneel in front of her. "Scarlet Benoit, will you do me the honor of not divorcing me?" He asked, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tried to keep a straight face.

Scarlet laughed. "Why the hell not. Now come here and kiss me you scoundrel."

So he did.


End file.
